Tennessee wrapped up its regular season with a thud - and that might be putting it lightly. The Vols, who entered Saturday with momentum after a rare win in Gainesville, were completely outplayed in the second half by in-state rival Vanderbilt, falling 45-24 at Neyland Stadium in what stands as their worst performance - and result - of the 2025 campaign.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Tennessee in the series and marked Vanderbilt’s first victory over the Vols since 2018. It also sent shockwaves through the polls.
Tennessee plummeted out of the Associated Press Top 25 entirely after sitting at No. 18 just a week ago. In the US LBM Coaches Poll, the Vols slid six spots to No.
- Those rankings, released Sunday, reflect just how damaging this loss was - not just in terms of rivalry bragging rights, but national perception.
And they weren’t alone in the chaos. Tennessee was one of six College Football Playoff-ranked teams to stumble in the final week of the regular season.
No. 3 Texas A&M fell to No.
16 Texas. No.
20 Arizona State lost to No. 25 Arizona.
No. 22 Georgia Tech dropped a rivalry game to No.
4 Georgia in Atlanta. Then came Saturday, when No.
15 Michigan lost to top-ranked Ohio State, No. 21 SMU was upset by unranked California, and No.
22 Pittsburgh was handled by No. 12 Miami.
It was a weekend where playoff contenders saw their hopes either dashed or dented - and Tennessee wasn’t spared.
For the Vols, this wasn’t just a bad loss. It was a collapse.
After taking a 21-14 lead in the second quarter, Tennessee was outscored 31-3 the rest of the way. Vanderbilt flipped the game with back-to-back touchdown drives on either side of halftime.
During that stretch, Tennessee ran just one play - a kneeldown to end the first half - over nearly 10 minutes of game time. It was a brutal sequence that swung all the momentum to the visitors.
The second half was a clinic - just not for Tennessee. Vanderbilt scored on five of its next six possessions (four touchdowns and a field goal), while the Vols’ offense went ice cold: punt, three-and-out, field goal, turnover on downs, turnover on downs. The Commodores finished with 582 total yards - the most Tennessee has allowed all season - while the Vols managed just 382, their lowest output of the year.
“Extremely disappointing second half that leads to an extremely disappointing ultimate result,” head coach Josh Heupel said postgame. “Coaches and players all play a part in it.
Give them credit. It’s extremely disappointing, what we did in the second half.”
The loss also snapped a streak of 33 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25 for Tennessee, dating back to the end of the 2023 regular season. However, the Vols did extend their run in the Coaches Poll, where they’ve now been ranked for 62 straight weeks - the program’s longest streak since a 92-week run from 1994 to 2000.
Tennessee will find out on Tuesday night whether it can hold onto its streak of 22 straight appearances in the College Football Playoff rankings - a run that dates back to the very first rankings of the 2022 season.
Despite the stumble, the Vols’ 8-4 finish still puts them in line for a respectable bowl game, which will be announced a week from Sunday. But there’s no sugarcoating how this one ended. A promising season now carries the sting of a rivalry loss, a rankings free-fall, and a whole lot of questions heading into bowl season.